Bryce Canyon Vacation

We left Thursday, June 11th at about 8:00 a.m. Eric worked graveyards, so as soon as he got home we finished the last minute stuff and was on the road by about 8. Sallie came with us. Our first stop was in Payson, for a quick fill-up and potty break. Then we stopped at Big Rocky Candy Mountain. I had researched things to do before we left and one of the things I found was renting a ATV/UTV for the day. I wasn't sure if I could talk Eric into it, but threw the idea out there. I figured that we might run out of things to do in Bryce Canyon, so wanted to be sure I had a back up plan. We ended up reserving a six passenger Ranger for Sunday. We arrived at our campground, Paradise Rv Park, just outside of Panguitch at about 2:00. There was no body around, so we wanted for about a half hour before the guy showed up. Eric was getting very irritated. After all, he was going on no sleep and just wanted to set up camp and relax. Once we got situated we just hung out in the trailer and watched a movie.

Friday, June 12th, we cooked breakfast and then drove to Bryce Canyon, which was about 30 minutes away. We jumped on the shuttle bus that took us into the park. We hiked the Navajo Loop/Sunset Point hike which ended up being 2.9 miles. It was a great hike and the weather was perfect. I don't think it got hotter than 75 degrees. After the hike, we rode the shuttle back to the truck and had lunch and than walked into a few little shops. Then we headed back to the trailer. We cooked dinner and just hung out. We met a really nice couple, Brian and Nancy, that stay the whole summer at Paradise RV Park. I think they have convinced us to come back again next year. We will see if we can get our schedule to work out and come back for the Balloon festival.

Saturday, June 13th, we went to the tractor pulls in Panguitch. Sallie had never been to the tractor pulls. It was fun to attend a small town event. The sled broke towards the end, so we didn't get to watch the last couple of tractors. Then we went back to Bryce Canyon and went on the Mossy Cave trail. It was only a .8 mile hike. It was a perfect little hike that went up to a Mossy Cave and then to a little waterfall. Eric and the kids hiked up a steep hill to look over the hill. On the way down, Maisie was crossing the river and lost her flip flop. Thankfully it got stuck in a little cove before going down the waterfall and her dad was nice enough to retrieve it for her. She was a little upset and went storming off down the trail. I think she realized she should have listened do mom and dad and wore tennis shoes. Oh well, live and learn. On our way back to the trailer, we stopped at the little shops in Panguitch and walked through them. Not too exciting, but kind of fun to look at. They have a lot of antique shops. We hung out at camp, had dinner, and visited with our new friends.

Sunday, June 14th, we got up early, at 6:00 a.m. and cooked a quick breakfast and then packed up the trailer. We decided to move the trailer to Marysvale, since we were going to be renting the UTV and it was right there. Got is an hour closer to home too. We got the trailer situated and then went and picked up the UTV. Once we got lunch and drinks all packed, we headed out on the trail. We headed towards Monroe mountain. It took us about 2.5 hours to get to the cabin. We cooked some hot dogs and had lunch and then headed down the other side of the mountain. Along the way, we went to Monroe Peak and Fitzgerald Park. We filled up the UTV with gas in Monroe and then went to the park to evaluate the map and see where we wanted to head next. We still had five hours left before we needed to return it.